The Cloud is a neighborhood

The second edition of NIC will be held january 24-25, and a killer a program this year too. I will host two session this year too, and enjoy lots of top class speakers rest of the time

Every now and then I get this error message when fuelling a computer with MDT: "The task sequence has been suspended. LiteTouch is trying to install applications. This cannot be performed in Windows PE."

There are lots of new thing to learn about Windows 8, something because they are better or new and some because you are missing something from previouse version of Windows. This tip are because you are missing something from previouse versions :-) The start button are dead and replaced with a start menu. In many cases this will workout fine, but some you need faster way to find what you need.

I have now uploaded the slide deck from yesterdays presentations.

Need to get the Manufacturer and/or Model of a computer? You can use the build in command WMIC.EXE for this.

Evry kjører gratis seminar sammen med Microsoft 29. November. Kom og se Microsoft sitt opplevelsessenter eller delta på foredrag om Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows Phone 8, SharePoint 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft BI, Microsoft Lync, System Center og nyheter på Cloud. Jeg holder Windows 8 og Server 2012 foredrag, mens Nicolai Henriksen Norges eneste MVP på System Center Config Manager holder SCCM foredrag. Som vanlig lover jeg masse demo'er Det blir intenst og lære rikt :-) Info og påmelding her SORRY IT'S IN NORWEGIAN ONLY! 

Microsoft Press have given out a free preview of the "Introducing Windwows 8 - An overview for IT Professionals" by Jerry Honeycutt. I have not read the book yet, but now that Jerry Honeycutt always delivers.   Will read the book soon, put please drop a comment about it :-)

Yesterdays 2 presentations on Microsoft Windows Partner Bootcamp that was held by me and Reidar Johansen (#reidartwitt) are now ready for download. The first presentation was about the new product UE-V, the updates in App-V and AGPM. Pluss an reminder that DaRT are cool :-)

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Microsoft have just made the "Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8" available for download. This is now more than ever an important tool, since we can manage everything remote on the Server 2012 and we will se lots more of reServer Core installation out there because of this. Please do remeber to logon to your computer as an ordinary user and start RSAT With the "run as" feature. Security!!!

I am in general against upgrading to newer version, even from Windows 7 to 8 I would prefair a clean install. But it's nice to have the possibility to upgrade. One of my Laptop was running everything I need for a presentation with demos that I shall host in 2 day's time. And it's running the Release Candidate version of Windows Server 2012. The RTM version of Server 2012 are available today, and I would of course like to show that I am a modern guy running the latest bits :-) Remembering back to Windows 7 / 2008 R2 beta/RTM days, there was a way of upgrading between the different beta and rc Versions. I tested this out from Developer preview to newer version but it did'nt work. BUT! trying it today it from RC to RTM it did work :-) Check out how to do it

On this thursday, the 6th of september I will hold an MTUG Bergen session about all the great things on the Springboard site. Lots of trick and tips. There is alot of cool stuff and tools there I am sure you don't know and would love.  The session are based on my session from TechED in Amsterdam this year. How Springboard Can Help You Plan, Deploy and Manage Your Windows Environment Reinventing the wheel is a time consuming job, and often the results are anything but a round wheel. In this session, see how the Microsoft Springboard page, with all its solution accelerators and infrastrucure planning guides, can make the job much smoother.

 From Keith Mayers blog: This week, Mitch Tulloch and the Windows Server team have released a new updated version of the FREE e-Book for IT professionals: Introducing Windows Server 2012 RTM Edition.  With Windows Server 2012 RTM launching on Sept 4th , this book is a great way to get quickly skilled up on all the new improvements in this latest Windows Server - one of the most ambitious releases of Windows Server for IT Pros since Active Directory was released in Windows Server 2000!  In this 256-page eBook, you'll find 5 chapters of detailed technical content covering the following key improvements to building a Private Cloud at your shop with Windows Server 2012: 

Hi, my session on Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 on IT Puls Tromsø are ready for download if you want them.

Kristian Nese kjører foredrag om Server 2012, Hyper-V over SMB 3.0 og Hyper-V Replikering.   Foredraget starter klokken 17.00 og avsluttes ca. 20.00 Det er lagt inn en litt lengre pause halvveis. Vennligst svar på denne mailen for påmelding. ( bergen@mtug.no ) Sted: Glasspaper sine lokaler. Sandbrogaten 5-7 - 5003 Bergen For høsten 2012 har vi lagt en del planer, så det er mye og se fram til. Følg med i innboksen din og web for mer info. PS. Nye websider for Bergen er under utarbeidelse og forventes klar i løpet av august. Så se bort fra de små “Bugs“ som kan finnes der. De nye websidene har adresse http://bergen.mtug.no Med vennlig hilsen Per Christian Losnedal Styreleder Bergen og Styremedlem MTUG Nasjonalt Mob: 40726833 Mail: per.christian.losnedal@onsec.no – bergen@mtug.no

Sure the dates will be the same as for Windows 8. More info Here

August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions . August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions . August 16th: Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization. August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8. August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8. September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 8 through Microsoft Volume License Resellers . Read all about it here

Just got an email that MAP 7 are ready and can be downloaded. This is a copy of the mail: Get ready for Windows Server 2012 with MAP 7.0! The latest release from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) team provides organizations with tools to assess readiness for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. Download MAP 7.0 on the Microsoft Download Center: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?&id=7826

In the Windows Server 2012 the Windows Deployment Services Will be fast. And one of the cool feature are that it now don't need to download the wim before you apply it. This will save local disk space, have seen problems with smaller ssd disk. Trade off is that you need 2 gb of memory. More WDS blogging will follow

You want to check out Windows 8 and don't have hardware to spare, can't run virtual or if just want to check if your computer can run Windows 8 ? Then you might try Window 8 To Go. You need a USB drive with some space available, running it on USB 3 will of course give faster speed, but I have runned it on several USB 2 disk (memory stick and USB 2/3 often got to hot, so I use disks instead) without problem. I runned the developer preview on a Lacie Rugged Disk 500 GB (7200 rpm) and did several session on it at NIC 2012 and Utmessan on this solution without any hickups or problems

Here are the slides showing recommantations for Springboard related sessions from my session

During my session at TechEd Europe I talked about and showed the "POC Jumpstart Kit". This is a smart solution to test out Windows and Office readiness, deployment or just play around With MDT, SCCM, ACT and MAP. It's a large download, but you get a great demo environment ready in no time. A bit like the Hydration Kit, but you don't have to do the installation process. Everything is on one server, and the server is ready to be used on Hyper-V or Virtual PC. There is no Integration Components installed so it's works well on both platforms. Convertion to other platforms should work as well. Among the greates benefits are that you get a "instructions manual" with it. There is 13 lab guides Learning you how to use all the powers installed in the "Jumpstart Kit" There is some "minor" issues to get it to work, but luckily there is workarounds :-)

Service pack 1 will give alot of important stuff to the System Center 2012 family, for instance Windows 8(2012) support for Sccm and Scom. Also backup for de-duplication volumes will be supported in DPM. Maybe the most exciting news for some people will be the support in SCCM for Mac OS and Linux and Unix servers. For more info you can go here:

It have taken some time, but it now looks like the IPD guide for System Center will start to arrive (in beta versions first). First one out are Scvmm (Well the System Center Service Manager have been there for a while) The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Guides are documents writen by Microsoft to help, like the name says, plan and design implementation of technologies and solutions. You will fing IPD on the following technologies: Virtualization Windows Server 2008 System Center Microsoft SQL Server Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Communication & Collaboration Security The IPD site are located here

I am holding a session at TechED Europe on the Springboard site  and how you can find information and tools there. Session is in Hall 10A on Tue, Jun 26 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM There will be lots of demo's and great information about session to attend at TechED Europe this year. Thats the great thing with having a sessions on the first day, you can recommend other sessions.

The next big thing, now that System Center family are here are without doubt the next version of Windows Server. And with the newly released "Release Candidate" it's coming fast. So it's time to start learn whats new and why should you care about the next version. Jumping around on the internet and reading differnt blog post are time consuming and you never seems to get the debt of information, just what people think and have heard. Mitch Tulloch have teamed up with Microsofts server team to be able to give us what we need.  

On Microsoft's msleap365.com learning page there have now been published a very nice page called  "Windows 8 Early Content" The page are a graphical way of finding information about Windows 8, it's devided into sections: Introduction Developing Fundamentals Developing Metro Applications Advanced Development of Metro Apps Hardware Management Networking Security

You can download either an ISO file or an VHD file. Cool that you can download a ready made VHD and just import it into Hyper-V and test it. The Windows 8 Release Preview are also ready First Server are now up and running

Working with servers today are in most cases done by using RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), and it's nice to not have to sit in a cold noisy server room like us old school it-duds did back in the days. But one of the tradeoffs with working remote is that the keyboard "behaves" different in some scenarios. Shortcuts are easy when sitting on the physical box and working, but can we use them in a RDP session?

TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 1) Registration URL:   http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807963   or  http://bit.ly/JLTQLM Date/ Time:     Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 9-10am (Pacific) Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, question and answer webcast, Windows Product Manager Stephen Rose moderates an open conversation with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Product Manager Michael Niehaus and deployment guru Johan Arwidmark. They discuss the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 release as well as tips and tricks from the experts about using the Windows Deployment Toolkit. TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 2) Registration URL:   http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807964   or  http://bit.ly/Kgny8y Date/ Time:     Thursday, May 17, 2012  - 9-10am (Pacific) Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, quest...

First thing first, Windows Server 8 beta will change name to Windows Server 2012. This was officially announced at MMS2012 and the release date will be later this year.In juni we will se the next test version, called "release candidate" One of many new cool features are the disk deduplication, check out my blog post here  for more info. There is a tool to check out how much space you might save by using deduplication, but for now the tool are only available after you have enabled the file server feature on a Windows Server 2012 installation. And that's to bad since you might want to test out how much space you can save with an Windows Server 2012 upgrade. But luckily there is a way to cheat....

The new deduplication in Windows Server 8 looks awesome, and it just might be the "killer app" for many business to start using Windows Server 8.  The feature will make it possible for companies or servers that don't use SAN/NAS with deduplication to save disk space, alot if disk space.

Tuesday 20 March I will be holding an Windows 8 seminar for Mtug ( www.mtug.no ) Bergen . I am going  through what I consider to be the most important things that come in Windows 8 on both server and client side for enterprise usage. It is a variant of the lecture I gave at NIC in January and UTmessan, I celand in February, but more informal .  Lecture will be given in Norwegian and It will be held at EDB Ergogroup's offices at Bryggen 3-5, Bergen (Norway)   and as with all Mtug talks  it's free. Currently there are vacancies , but it's just posted so it might fill up fast. Mtug is free to join and no obligations , just fun and Microsoft technology To register go HERE

The Windows Server 8 Beta are available for download and testing. Downloading it from here  and installing it are no problem, but what to do when you have installed it might be harder to know. There will always be clear visual differences you might want to check out, but sooner or later you just don't know what to test out or how to acctualy test it out. Or maybe you just want a better structured lab.

The Windows 8 Comsumer Preview (what the more experienced geek would have called a beta) are now out. To download it and get more information you can go in here , this is the Springboard site, the best place to get all you information on both Windows 8 and Windows 7 And the Technet community at Microsoft are already ready for you questions and input here If you want to try it out without installing it on your pc? Try Windows To Go, how to do it you find here

Just read the blog post of the Windows team here  and I think the new logo (if it will be the selected design in the end) shows the changes in Windows 8. It's easy to think that Windows 8 will be Windows 7 part 2 or Vista part 3. But it will soon be clear that this will be a change just as big or bigger than XP to Vista. The comment why do you use a flag when it's called Windows. Great idea with the new logo, but hopefully there will be some designers that will add some "bling" to it.

You can find a real nice survival guide for the entire System Center 2012 package here For sure this will be the greates every release of System Center products, and most of the product comes with the greates upgrade ever. So as an Microsoft infrastructur guy there will be lots of excitement ahead.

And you can find them on slideshare Windows 8 What's the fuzz all about Selling Deployment By The Pound If you want to creat your own Windows 8 To Go you can ready my blog post about how to do it here One of the great thing about To Go is that you can test the hardware before installing it. Sadly to little time to cover all I wanted, but hopefully people got an insight to MDT.

NO, I do not have a sick fetish (at last not one including Hyper-V). But I do alot of demoing on my laptop and love to use Hyper-V for that. This means that I cannot use an ordinary Windows 7 client installation, we have to wait for Windows 8 for Hyper-V to be supported in the client operatin system. I have been using Windows Server as my laptop OS for quite some time now and the only thing I missed was the possibility to use the "Sleep" feature (not that big deal when using SSD disk when starting, but the shutdown are slow because of the saving of running VM's)   So I found a solution sometime ago.

Looking at the screen shoots published at   http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-screenshots-of-build-8820-leak-new-info-surfaces  it looks like we are not getting the ordinary start menu back. Wonder what will happen if we try the registry hack I have bloged about previous here ? If you take a look at the picture you see that the start option is missing totaly

I am a happy user of my Samsung Omni 7, e specially after the Mango update and Spotify got available. It is actually the smart phone I have had for the longest period (about 18 months, and no immediate plan to replace it). It's robust and stabile. But basically a phone is just a tool to communicate, and I have never been that interested in phones as long as I can call and have descent Exchange functionality. But, as things comes together it looks like the new Windows Phone 8 will run Windows 8 core and have cool features like Bitlocker.

On the 8. of february I will travel to the saga land, Iceland. Looking forward to visit this exciting part of the world of mysteries and saga. Have never been to Iceland before so this will be a great new adventure. Read about Iceland here I will be holding 2 session on the UTMessan.

My session at NIC2012 was recorded and are now ready for everybody to see. Lots of Bitlocker stuff and Microsoft Bitlocker Administration And Monitoring (MBAM)

I have now uploaded the slide deck from my NIC2012 session about Windows 8 Server and Client. You can see it and download it from here

Then the first day of NIC2012 are finished and to make sure my presentation are available I have published them on slide share at this link

Needed to be sure that my previous posting also worked in Vmware, so I asked my excellent new colleague Christian Mohn the vNinja and he tested it out. Everything works just like in my posting, but of course it's not that easy in Vmware ;-) You just need to create a virtual floppy and the vNinja did of course create a blog post explaining how to do it. The blog are here

Just for testing it could be nice to run Bitlocker on a virtual Windows. But as everybody knows (or should know), you need TPM or a USB stick to be able to run Bitlocker encryption on the disk. Or do we?

Using a touch device the new metro interface will be a clear improvement. And the idea behinde replacing the old "Start Menu" with the "Start Sceen" are logical, because the "Start Menu" is not "finger friendly" on a touch device. But what the heck are it doing on the server version and why can't I make the start button act like it did before on my laptop without touch screen??? It's only a developer preview yet so I can forgive alot of things in this version, but reading the MSDN blog post "Evolving the start menu"  makes it look like it might stay this way (even tough, I think it will have to be changed by populare demand) Luckily there is a workaround for this!